With June starting and championship season on the heels of many swimmers across the country it's time to set the record straight. Of course many of you know I've been injured for over a year now with various shoulder issues that I'm still recovering from and doing daily therapy for. This is something I'll be doing for the rest of my swim career to ensure I'm sound and not doing anymore damage. It has been a long year, filled with many changes and ups and downs. A year ago I would have NEVER pictured myself in the situation I'm in and lets be real here no one would have predict this change, not even me. Here I am swimming in a new environment, with a new coach, with a different philosophy then most coaches in Ontario and Canada.
This season has been and continues to be a rebuild for me. Going from not being able to swim in September for several months one can't expect lifetime bests. Some people will likely look at the heat sheet and say "well he added 25 seconds to his 400 free" and as I say to those people thinking that 'who cares, and try going through an intense rehabilitation phase and continue to do so daily to ensure I can get better and continue to train. It was said by a couple different doctors I would never swim at the level I am today and even one went as fare as saying surgery would be my only option to fix all the damage caused from last seasons mess.
Many athletes receiving such difficult news would hang up the suit and say forget it, I'm done, it's not worth it anymore. Not this swimmer! Instead I took this head on and took the long road. Facing this uphill battle of kicking for weeks and weeks and building confidence each day to improve and knowing I was doing the right thing. Racing my first 50 free in Short Course meters in London in late November was the best thing for me as I was with the team and my confidence was building heading into Decembers Pointe Clare meet. At this meet I put in entire times that reflected where I was at during the meet and swam a handful of events plus relays with the intention of swimming stress free and if I needed to scratch I would. With swimmer and coach on the same page life in the pool was enjoyable, relaxing, and for once in a VERY long time FUN again, something the sport should have always been but sadly pointless politics and other peoples feelings, ego, and career were in the way of causing for the sport to turn into a hellish mess for anyone in a 50 meter radius.
By December I knew I wouldn't be swimming distance anytime soon. This had been my plan with my coach since September. I had mentioned I wanted to focus on my 200 free & 400 free, as well my sprint 50s 100s and backstroke. After Victoria trials in 2014 I guessed I had done everything I could in my 800 & 1500 free. And to this day my lifetime best is still from Victoria. It wasn't my last 1500 of my career as I swam one in June during Quebec Cup and added a lovely 2 and a half minutes to my best time. If that didn't send alarms and signals something was wrong then I don't know what would. So now that I'm not training for 800 & 1500 free I have been working hard on training for 400 and under races.
To set the record straight, NO I'm not a sprinter! I am a mid distance swimmer who is now specializing in the events ranging from 50 - 400 free and 50 - 200 back. Having previous distance training in my system I am able to go from a 50 to a 400 and be able to preform well all around those events which is helpful in terms of varsity swimming coming up in the fall.
This injury has been a blessing in a strange way. Thanks to peoples poor judgement and terrible listening/seeing skills I turned into an injured, angry swimmer, who didn't want to compete in the sport he once loved anymore. Luckily, I found a coach who understood and knew exactly what to do and when to do it. This rebuilding year has been a rewarding year and something I'll never forget.
So going forward you will see me swimming more and more short distance swims and 50s and 100s. My Regional event line up has nothing over 100 meters which is a huge change for me. I'm looking forward to new experiences and more seeing improvements in my shorter distance races.
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